FLIBS: the 7 largest yachts going to Fort Lauderdale

Roy Disney, the grandnephew Walt Disney, rescued the crew of a sinking yacht during the Transpac regatta. The boat of Roy Disney, Andrews 70 Pyewacket, which also took part in the regatta, picked up nine crew members from the sinking Santa Cruz 70 OEX boat, led by John Sangmeister.The racing committee received SOS-signal from the OEX boat at around 2 am, on July 15, reporting that the yacht’s rederpost was damaged and the vessel began to take on water.<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FTranspacRace%2Fvideos%2F424508521486179%2F&show_text=0&width=560" width="560" height="315" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>An hour later, the OEX crew was picked up by its rivals on Roy Disney's yacht, with no one of 9 crews getting hurt. After that, Pyewacket with the rescued people on-board and its own crew of 10, including Roy Disney, returned to Los Angeles Marina del Rey, from where the Transpac race started.With the reason of the steering axle’ breakage still unknown, the OEX yacht eventually sank. meanwhile, her owner, John Sangmeister, is an experienced yachtsman that had won the Cup of America in 1986–1987. For Sangmeister this was the eighth Transpac race.Transpac is a 2225-mile offshore race from Los Angeles to Honolulu. This year, the regatta has seen several more collisions, with Maserati trimaran Giovanni Soldini running into a huge underwater object. The crew, however, continued the race after stopping for repair.Except for OEX, 6 more hulls out of recording 90 participants, withdrew from the competition this year. Started on July 10, the regatta will see the award ceremony in Hawaii on July 26th.

Dutch court has declared the yachtbuilder Moonen Yachts bankrupt, reports International Boat Industry. The decision has been made just two weeks after Moonen had announced they had been about to close a deal with a new investor, in order to boast production.According to IBI, despite the bankruptcy procedure, the builder will continue negotiations with the potential investor. Moreover, the new potential stakeholder of the yard can even benefit from the bankruptcy, as they will be relieved of the responsibility to pay off Moonen’s debts.The name of the potential investor has been kept in secret, although some sources claim it is an Australian company. Earlier, the Mexican steel giant Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA) was the main investor at Moonen. In 2015, Moonen issued a statement on payments suspension due to financial problems of AHMSA. The Mexican concern claimed, it was no longer able to finance the construction of two of the three in-build semi-custom-yachts from the Moonen ‘Caribbean’ series, with construction begun a month earlier. At the time, the reason of AHMSA’s financial problems was a 40% price reduction on steel on the international market, caused by dumping of Chinese and Russian competitors.In 2017, the top management reshuffle took place in Moonen. The new CEO announced, he began the process of restructuring the company. In 2018, the shipyard received the World Superyacht Award for the 36-metre Brigadoon, followed by an order for its sistership that should be completed by 2020.But with only one boat under construction at the asset, the board of directors of Moonen decided, further development of the shipyard was impossible without the support of a new, financially stable investor. To keep stable operation, Moonen needs to build two or three projects ranging in size from 30 to 50 meters simultaneously.

Damen SeaXplorer division has shared news, that the first hull in Damen's SeaXplorer 77 expedition series La Datcha has been transferred to Damen and Amels' Vlissingen facility for outfitting. The superyacht was launched earlier this summer at the Galati facility, with her delivery scheduled for September 2020.Designed by Azure Naval Architects, La Datcha is set to become the first private luxurious ice breaker, capable of exploring the furthest destinations possible. The six-deck expedition yacht will feature a 77-metre LOA and a14-metre beam, along with a draft of 6.5 metres, adding up to interior volume of 2,560 GT. The explorer vessel will boast a speed of 14.5 knots and will be able to break ice up to 40 centimetres thick , as long as maintain autonomy at sea for up to 40 days. Thanks to generous storage spaces, a wide range of equipment and tenders can be housed on-board, including 2 helicopters, 1 submarine, 1 VIP tender / rescue boat, 1 beach lander tender, 1 dive support tender, 4 waverunners, 2 expedition ribs and 2 snowscooters.Photo: Tom Van Oossanen via DamenThe yacht’s custom interior design by Amels and Damen will be trademarked with full height windows of the observation lounge, main saloon and the owner’s suite and an observation deck upstairs. Expedition Yacht 77 will come with hot water Jacuzzis — 1 indoor and 1 outdoor, a sauna and steam bath, massage room and a fully equipped gym.La Datcha Expedition Yacht 77’ six guest cabins, including 2 master suites and 2 VIPs, offer accommodation to 12 guests, along with a crew of 25. Each suite comes with a bathroom and a walk-in wardrobe.

This week, Italian builder ISA Yachts, a brand from Palumbo Superyachts portfolio, rolled out its current in-build 65-metre flagship project ISA Classic out of her welding shed and moved her to the outfitting stage at the Ancona facility.The vessel features exterior and interior design by Enrico Gobbi of ‘Team For Design’ who has penned several more ISA models. Within her 1,300 GT interior volume, the yacht’s layout encompasses 6 staterooms along with a convertible cabin. The full-beam owner’s suite is located forward on the main deck and a huge full-beam beach club with three opening transom doors lays right below the pool placed on the main deck.The largest ISA project so far, the 65-metre was sold to an experienced European owner in 2017. The yacht is set for delivery in spring 2021.Other news from the builder include recent sale of ISA Super Sportivo 100ft GTO with potential top speed of 50 knots, along with taking on another ambitious project, the 100-metre superyacht concept Crossbow.

Turkish builder Alia Yachts that is about to triple in size with a new facility, is getting ready to debut its 60-metre flagship superyacht Samurai at Monaco Yacht Show 2019.Launched in 2016, the vessel has received little publicity since then. She features exterior styling by Omega Architects, naval architecture by van Oossanen and interior design by Redman Whiteley Dixon, combining top northern European design with Eastern yachtbuilding capability.Alia President Gökhan Çelik has commented:We’ve been sitting on the superyacht industry’s best-kept secret for the last three years. In terms of overall design and construction quality, Samurai demonstrates what we’re capable of and I’m delighted we finally have this opportunity to show her off to the yachting world.The exterior profile of Samurai features bold vertical windows, elegantly arched superstructure and long aft overhangs. Thanks to her sleek lines, a high-volume interior of 1,050 GT is disguised, mostly inside the hull.A spacious beach club and gym with fold-down transom door and side platform, a tender garage with room for two custom tenders of up to 7 metres, the crew quarters, crew dinette and pro-spec gallery, are all to be found on the lower deck, besides the engine room.The main deck provides accommodation for 10 guests across four cabins and a full-beam, forward-facing master suite. The staterooms, open-plan main salon and dining room benefit from natural light and sea views thanks to the full height windows. A stairway on the aft deck provides direct exterior access to the beach club below.As well as the wheelhouse and captain’s cabin, the bridge deck provides space for ample alfresco lounging with dining for a full complement of guests, a fifth guest suite, and a panoramic lounge on the open foredeck.Techno wise, the yacht is capable of a top speed of 21 knots and a transatlantic range of 4,250 nautical miles at economical speed. The power comes from twin MTU 16V4000 M73L engines, complemented by patented Fast Displacement Hull Form (FDHF) by Van Oossanen. 
Alia Yachts was founded in 2008 by Gökhan Çelik, together with his business partner Ömer Koray, in Antalaya, Turkey. Its purpose-built facilities are equipped for cutting-edge yacht construction in carbon-reinforced composites, steel and aluminium up to 60 metres. The shipyard recently completed an expansion of its facilities, adding 16,000 sqm, increasing production capacity and allowing larger yachts to be built entirely under cover. Photos via Alia Yachts